Calling all numismatists and collectors who love history. A new €0 banknote will go on sale from 11 February at the 21st Salon des Collectionneurs to be held in Isle, near Limoges (Haute-Vienne). This souvenir ticket will go on sale from 9 a.m., and the rule is simple: "First come, first served," says the Billets-Euro-Souvenir website, which coordinates the operation.
Issued in only 3,000 copies, numbered from 000001 to 003000, this ticket will cost 3 euros each and only two can be purchased by each visitor at most. Indeed, only 400 tickets will be available for sale at the show, the rest of the collection will be marketed at a later date. But then why buy a 0 euro note, without any market value?
A special ticket for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings
This post is no coincidence. Indeed, it is a special commemorative edition on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, which took place on June 6, 1944. Several images are superimposed to trace the history of the event. We can see the poster "To all the French" in reference to the appeal of 18 June, the support of the allies for the Resistance represented by the Westland Lysander aircraft, the sabotage orchestrated by the Resistance, the Normandy landings or the celebration of the Liberation on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Behind these special €0 banknotes is the company Euro Banknote Memory, whose business is to offer these collector's editions. The banknotes are manufactured in the same way as their merchant counterpart with security points to prevent forgery. However, they do not have the signs of real banknotes: no mention of "euro" in Greek and Bulgarian, the European flag is a pastiche where the 12 stars are replaced by text and obviously, there is no mention of the European Central Bank (ECB) or the signature of its president.
Hundreds of variants have been marketed by the company since 2015 to honor monuments or events. In France, for example, there are 0 euro banknotes with the effigy of the Pantheon, Napoleon I, Vincent van Gogh, the Stade Vélodrome or even the Eiffel Tower.
Real €2 coins often put into circulation
While these commemorative 0 euro banknotes are not found in traditional commerce, there are coins that are officially issued for special occasions. For the European currency, this means the introduction of commemorative €2 coins. Each euro area country is entitled to two special editions per year, often to pay tribute to a deceased figure or to commemorate an event.
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Since 2002, France has issued €2 coins bearing the effigy of Jacques Chirac or Simone Veil, but also for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the 70th anniversary of the June 18 appeal and the 25th anniversary of the Pink Ribbon for the fight against breast cancer. Greece, for example, paid tribute to Maria Callas and the Athens Games in 2004, while Germany issued coins honouring each state and Italy immortalised the Turin Winter Games in 2006. For 2024, France has already announced the issuance of a coin in honor of the Paris Games.